Comments on: Genes: still a pretty big dealhttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2012/04/genes-still-a-pretty-big-deal/
Wed, 04 Dec 2013 06:45:00 +0000hourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.4.5By: Karl Zimmermanhttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2012/04/genes-still-a-pretty-big-deal/#comment-41715
Sat, 14 Apr 2012 12:39:55 +0000http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/?p=16263#comment-41715As a follow-up to my point, some people might be interested at this post I made at Pittsburgh City Data, where I look in detail at how not looking at the effects of race on test scores leads parents to make the wrong impressions about city schools.

I soft-pedaled my views on heredity a bit in order to get people to consider my broader point that there is nothing per-se wrong with the quality of city teaching. I’m not a believer in “human biodiversity” like many on here, but I am open to it playing a role once the other options have been excluded (which I think we’ll know, one way or another, within the next two decades.)

]]>By: Jon Claerbouthttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2012/04/genes-still-a-pretty-big-deal/#comment-41714
Fri, 13 Apr 2012 21:49:34 +0000http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/?p=16263#comment-41714Have more than one child and find yourself amazed at the differences.
]]>By: Nihaya Khatebhttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2012/04/genes-still-a-pretty-big-deal/#comment-41713
Fri, 13 Apr 2012 16:47:45 +0000http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/?p=16263#comment-41713I reached the same conclusion before two years at the university forum, but all the lucturers say I talk nonsense. The same like Razib I make observations on my family ( siblings, children’ and others) but I came to another important new idea I would talk about in the evolution conference in Canada.
]]>By: chris whttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2012/04/genes-still-a-pretty-big-deal/#comment-41712
Fri, 13 Apr 2012 01:47:58 +0000http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/?p=16263#comment-41712I’m adopted, and I’m not similar to my adoptive parents at all, and don’t find it easy to connect with them, even though I care about them and still make regular visits. While I’m certainly happy that somebody decided to adopt me, I often caution do-gooder types who say that they would prefer to adopt from a developing country than have biological children, telling them that their adopted children might not end up relating to them very well. (With my own adoptive parents, they were not capable of producing their own child, so the situation is different.) Most of them have a nurturist assumption about personality and behavior, without having researched the issue, so I agree with Razib that research from the likes of Pinker, twin studies, etc., have yet to “trickle down”.
]]>By: chris whttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2012/04/genes-still-a-pretty-big-deal/#comment-41711
Fri, 13 Apr 2012 01:37:43 +0000http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/?p=16263#comment-41711#7, not to make any assumptions about your own position, but “genetic determinist” seems like a bit of a misnomer. blank slate’ists frequently use the phrase “biological determinist” as a slur against the hereditarian position (which isn’t to say that you were using it this way), but it’s an inaccurate one, given that the latter attribute behavior to an interaction between genes and environment, whereas the former argue that ONLY environment matters (although they make some slight concessions, especially when politically convenient — e.g., in relation to homosexuality or transexuality). the nurture position can be more accurately described as “environmental determinism” or “cultural determinism” than the nature position can be described as “biological determinism”, as the latter is far more tolerant of cultural explanations than the former is of biological explanations. this might be a nitpick about semantics, but its dishonest use as a slur has been a source of annoyance to me — again, not to say that your use of it should be characterized as such.
]]>By: Wulf Kurtogluhttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2012/04/genes-still-a-pretty-big-deal/#comment-41710
Thu, 12 Apr 2012 23:31:50 +0000http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/?p=16263#comment-41710Jings, Razib, support the head!
]]>By: AndrewVhttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2012/04/genes-still-a-pretty-big-deal/#comment-41709
Thu, 12 Apr 2012 21:50:32 +0000http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/?p=16263#comment-41709@Razib,

Any lingering doubts I may have had about people who subscribed to the “Blank State” were completely dispelled by the arrival of my second child.

My conclusion was that the advocates of such, either never had children of their own, or if they did, were either not particularly involved in raising them, or some combination of being a wilfully dishonest ideologue, and which may or may not have included, neither being particularly observant nor intelligent themselves.

]]>By: pconroyhttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2012/04/genes-still-a-pretty-big-deal/#comment-41708
Thu, 12 Apr 2012 20:12:43 +0000http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/?p=16263#comment-41708BTW, I have almost perfect recall on facial recognition, but have a very hard time remembering peoples names, especially first or given name. To cope, I usually give people nicknames, which are easier to remember. As a kid I would give everyone nicknames, and most farm animals too.

Supposedly my maternal grandfather gave everyone he met a nickname, and from then on only referred to them by his given nickname.

My son (3.5 yo) has recently started to express the same unusual trait, he will only refer to his light green duvet/comforter as “the pickle”, and has about 10 other nicknames for other items and people in his environment.

]]>By: M. Möhlinghttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2012/04/genes-still-a-pretty-big-deal/#comment-41706
Thu, 12 Apr 2012 03:56:47 +0000http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/?p=16263#comment-41706Sometimes when I’m nervous and in a bad mood I clench my fists, with the thumb tucked into the other fingers, like a baby. Mostly, when getting aware of it, I also realise that I’m clamping my lips together in a particular manner. It’s then that I stop doing both immediately, because I remember having seen both with my father, being nervous, in a bad mood, and looking goofy(!)–not so enticing a remembrance. It’s in these moments that I feel, instinctively, with absolute confidence that ‘pater semper incertus est’ doesn’t apply with me (Besides, my mother told me repeatedly, sheesh!). Else, I’m also meticulous and stubborn, to put it politely (and so is my sister). Only politically we’re diverging to opposite extremes, as my liberalism got mugged when aged about 40, likely triggered by changes in my environment.
]]>By: Amanda Shttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2012/04/genes-still-a-pretty-big-deal/#comment-41705
Thu, 12 Apr 2012 02:50:58 +0000http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/?p=16263#comment-41705As someone who only met my biological kin as an adult, I can confirm that one of the most striking aspects was to find that we shared some of our mannerisms and characteristics. I was expecting to find that physical features would be shared but not this other dimension. This was of course tempered by the fact of having being raised in different countries. Other people who have a similar experience to me often comment on the same finding.
]]>By: Darkseidhttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2012/04/genes-still-a-pretty-big-deal/#comment-41704
Thu, 12 Apr 2012 01:43:17 +0000http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/?p=16263#comment-41704I understand but I’m just saying, for your daughter’s sake, that you sound exactly like a lot of the parents were I live who decided to send their kids to my school. You can’t really know unless you go through it yourself. It’s not fun at all…
]]>By: Karl Zimmermanhttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2012/04/genes-still-a-pretty-big-deal/#comment-41703
Thu, 12 Apr 2012 01:31:23 +0000http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/?p=16263#comment-41703Darkseid –

There’s a difference between going to a school which has some black kids, and a school which is seriously unsafe. My city has some of both, but actually some of the outlying first-ring suburban districts are more notorious for awful student conduct (like students beating up teachers) in this area.

]]>By: Darkseidhttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2012/04/genes-still-a-pretty-big-deal/#comment-41702
Thu, 12 Apr 2012 01:25:53 +0000http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/?p=16263#comment-41702Karl – i got sent to a “diverse” school and strongly resented it. it can easily be the difference between doing something great with your life and deciding to just try to survive. Just sayin’ that lots of hippie type parents think it’s no prob. to send their kids to a school like that because that have never had to do it themselves. it’s not worth it.
]]>By: Kiwiguyhttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2012/04/genes-still-a-pretty-big-deal/#comment-41701
Thu, 12 Apr 2012 00:50:59 +0000http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/?p=16263#comment-41701I’m hopeful my daughter will grow to share my taste in 80’s pop music

]]>By: Razib Khanhttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2012/04/genes-still-a-pretty-big-deal/#comment-41700
Thu, 12 Apr 2012 00:18:05 +0000http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/?p=16263#comment-41700 So does this mean Southeast Asians are a continuum between South Asians and East Asians?

the short answer is that that paper is out of date. south asians are a recent hybrid between an old population (ASI) and an intrusive population from west eurasia (ANI). additionally, the austro-asiatic tribes of northeast india themselves are recent intrusive elements from southeast asia:

“The results suggest that the Austro-Asiatic Khasi tribes of Northeast India represent a genetic continuity between the populations of South and Southeast Asia, thereby advocating that northeast India could have been a major corridor for the movement of populations from India to East/Southeast Asia.”

Which sparked my interest in many of the South Asian posts you’ve done (I’m Southeast Asian). So does this mean Southeast Asians are a continuum between South Asians and East Asians?

Both my wife and I were strange children, so I don’t see her desiring to conform by being stupid a major concern.

We do plan on enrolling in the local magnet system (which is essentially a 50/50 split between white and black). It doesn’t get much credit in the suburbs, but Pittsburgh breaks down the test scores of white and black students, and the white students in the magnet system score as well as the average student in the most expensive school districts in the suburbs. I assume most of the difference is because the parents who care enough to apply tend to be above-average in intelligence, and thus the peer group is one for which academic achievement is important.

As an example, consider schools, where parents are supposed to be super-concerned about getting their child into a “good” one

the main issue you select for is peer group (good students make good schools; not teachers or $). if you don’t think that your child is impressionable than i think that opens up many possibilities. but as you say, a better grasp of reality produces better ‘cost vs. benefit’ calculations.